Behavior and Psychophysics of Hearing in Birds

Abstract

It is generally agreed that birds and mammals share a common ancestry in the class Reptilia dating back about 250 million years (Brodkorb 1971). In considering the evolution of vertebrate auditory systems, it is therefore not uncommon to find birds placed between reptiles and mammals, particularly on the basis of anatomical criteria. For instance, the basilar membrane is generally short in reptiles, longer in birds, and longest in mammals, with some degree of overlap (Manley 1971, 1973).